ATLANTA — Chances are Jason Witten will rewrite a page of Cowboys history before Sunday night’s game is done.

Four receptions is all Witten needs to become the franchise’s all-time leading receiver. When cameras capture that moment, please know the tight end will be wearing a helmet.

Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of Witten’s iconic catch, in which he continued to run downfield with Philadelphia defenders in pursuit after his helmet had been ripped from his head.

It’s a picture that resonates with fans and defines what Witten is about.

“It’s not to be tough or to prove anything or to be the alpha male,’’ Witten said. “It’s simply to say this is what it takes to be successful, this is what it takes to win.’’

Michael Irvin is the star in the Cowboys’ constellation that Witten is poised to pass. While the two have vastly different styles, their substance is similar.

Both have a passion for the sport that few can match. Both believe leadership is showing up for games and practice when your body says no.

A lacerated spleen wasn’t enough to keep Witten out of this season’s opener. A broken jaw sidelined him for one game as a rookie, the only game he’s missed in his NFL career.

Witten is humbled by the record he’s about to break. But he takes great pride that he’s poised to play his 147th consecutive game Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons.

That means just as much.

“Hey, look, I think it does because that’s what allows you to achieve that,’’ Witten said. “To be mentioned with Michael, to pass him, puts chill bumps on my arms. That’s special. But the only way you get the opportunity to do that is by coming and bringing it every day.

“For 10 years, that’s what I’ve tried to do.’’

As tough as they come

Ability is important.

Durability is critical.

The sign that hangs over one of the tables in the Cowboys’ training room brings a smile to Witten’s face.

Durability isn’t exciting or sexy. It’s often the least appreciated trait of great players. But it set Emmitt Smith apart.

It sets Witten apart.

The tight end was only four games into his career with the Cowboys when he fractured his jaw in two places. Michelle Witten remembers waiting outside the tunnel at Texas Stadium to put her husband in the car and drive him to the hospital for the surgery.

“He was sitting in the car, spitting blood into a cup,’’ Michelle said. “We hardly knew anyone in town, so we had to call Tony [Romo] to go by our home and bring a change of clothes to the hospital.’’

Witten had three plates inserted later that evening. His jaw was wired shut for five days. But he returned to Valley Ranch as soon as he could and went to work.

Bill Parcells was the head coach. He regaled the rookie with stories of players who had much worse injuries and never missed a game. Parcells spoke of how he was back to work 10 days after a heart attack.

Witten still couldn’t eat solid food. But he could run. He could lift weights. He returned to practice.

Then Parcells threw him a curve. He was concerned the rookie had lost too much weight and wouldn’t be able to hold his own. He gave Witten a prescribed weight in order for him to play against Detroit.

A member of the training staff, knowing how much it meant to Witten to play, slipped a couple of small weights into Witten’s shorts so he hit his weight when he stepped on the scales.

“I got him to help me fudge the weight a little bit to make it look like I was bigger than I was,’’ Witten said.

Witten, with only a liquid diet, was back on the field two weeks after breaking his jaw. He hasn’t missed a game since.

“He literally missed only 10 days with a jaw fractured in two places,’’ marveled Jim Maurer, the team’s head athletic trainer. “The pain, the lack of food …

“That’s when you knew this guy has got something a little different.’’

Witten knew nothing else. He grew up in a football family. A missed game was a missed opportunity to do something you love.

Witten broke his leg early in his junior year of high school. He missed three games, came back and hurt the leg again. He missed the next game, then came back to finish the season.

Six years old. That’s how old Witten was when he took up the game. He’s now 30.

He’s missed a total of five games in that span. He’s as tough mentally as he is physically and is continually uplifted by his faith.

Maurer holds a printout of every injury Witten has suffered while playing for the Cowboys. The 2008 season is the most extensive.

The tight end suffered a rib cartilage fracture. A month later, he fractured a rib on the same side. There was a high ankle sprain and a shoulder sprain.

Beside each injury are the letters NTL — no time lost.

It’s this way page after page. Hamstring. Biceps. Elbow. Ring finger. Two concussions in one season. Each time the letters NTL appear.

“The list of body parts that have been injured is extensive,’’ Maurer said. “He’s had several injuries that are debilitating for other players. For one reason or the other, his work ethic, his drive to stay out there and to do everything possible to make sure he’s ready for the next game, is what makes him who he is.’’

The spleen injury Witten suffered three months ago was different. Medical research showed he would be fine once he rested and gave it a chance to heal.

But for how long? The Cowboys pored through records for military injuries. They searched the NFL, the NHL and other collision sports to find a projected timetable to return from a grade one laceration.

There was nothing.

Witten was told he would miss the opener. Michelle said it was as if the doctors ripped her husband’s heart out. He refused to accept that timetable since there was no evidence to show he couldn’t return to face New York.

Three weeks and two days after lacerating his spleen, Witten started against the Giants.

Michelle had been an emergency room nurse at Parkland for nine years. She had always supported her husband and knew he was tough. But she was eight months pregnant with their third child and scared.

“That was the one time I didn’t have peace in my heart,’’ Michelle said. “The other ones I knew that he would be fine, but this was an internal injury.

“I had never been so fearful.

“I went to the New York game and watched his every single move, every breath, every grimace and was on the edge of my seat. But honestly, after that game, I had never been so proud.’’

Witten calls it the most emotional game he’s ever played. It wasn’t about being tough. It was about being there for his teammates.

“I tell whoever’s going to make the speech to induct him into whatever he’s going to get inducted into, start with that Giants game on opening night,’’ coach Jason Garrett said.

“Don’t talk about the records he’s going to break as a receiving tight end and all that, talk about that Giants game, because it was really one of the more remarkable performances I’ve ever seen as a player or coach in this league, a guy who was so determined to play.

“So that’s where it starts.’’

Substance over style

Michael Irvin is flamboyant.

Jason Witten, in the words of Garrett, “is not quite as flamboyant.’’

The common denominator is their passion and intensity for the game.

“When you look at those two guys, their exterior might be different, but they’re all about the same thing,’’ Garrett said. “Each of those guys is as good a teammate as I’ve been around, as passionate about this game as I’ve been around, works as hard at this game as anybody I’ve ever been around.

“And they are really, really well liked. Well respected by their teammates, by the opposition. They show up to work every day, and they do things the right way.’’

Stephen Jones calls Witten one of the greatest players ever to wear a Cowboys uniform. The team’s executive vice president said the tight end “deserves every penny he has ever made’’ and wishes the club had “52 others just like him.’’

Witten is a bit uncomfortable with the accolades. He considers it a privilege to play and would take the same approach if he were still in high school.

It’s not about the records. It’s not about being tough.

It’s about his love for the sport.

“One day they’re going to tell you, ‘Hey, it’s time to get off the train,’’’ Witten said. “When they do, you want to look back and say, ‘Man, I left it all out there.’ That’s the way you’ve got to play.

“In my mind, that’s the only way it gives you a chance to be successful.’’

Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310) three days a week with The Musers (Mon-Wed-Fri) at 9:35 a.m. and The Hardline (Tue-Wed-Fri) at 3:50 p.m. and twice a week (Wed-Fri) with BaD radio during the regular season.

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